The invention involves hologram-containing laminates particularly useful as game cards, lottery cards or sweepstakes cards.
In the past, game cards such as lottery tickets contained printed matter which was printed onto a backing material or card. The printed matter on the card was then covered with a silk-screened ink or other removable material layer. The removable layer prevented reading of the printed matter located underneath until the layer was removed by scratching or rubbing it off. Another version of this type of game card was the pull tab type card wherein the printed matter was hidden by a covering layer that had a perforated section which could be torn off to allow the printed matter to be viewed.
A disadvantage of these known game cards is that the printed matter contained therein is often easily duplicated. This renders the game cards subject to easy counterfeiting. A further disadvantage of the known game cards is that the printed matter often provides very little visual impact on the player of the game when it is revealed. Thus, the marketing appeal and utility of these known cards is limited
A hologram is a recorded interference pattern formed by laser light which is altered by the object to be depicted and a reference laser. This recorded interference pattern, when illuminated, refocuses the illuminating light and presents the refocused light to the viewer. The refocused light is substantially identical to the light that would have been seen if the object itself were present in the illuminating light.
Further, since the refocused light changes with the angle from which the interference pattern is viewed, the viewer is able to perceive the image in three dimensions as if the original object were present.
Another feature of holograms is that the portion of the image appearing to the viewer can change with the viewing angle. Thus, the viewer typically can see a part of the image that was previously obscured by changing his/her angle of view.